In some instances it is preferable or necessary to bottle feed an infant such as when the infant requires a special diet. When bottle feeding an infant, it is also sometimes preferable or necessary to allow the infant to nurse while not being held, such as when the attending parent is preoccupied with household duties or attending other children. In such instances, attending parents have been known to support the nursing bottle in a feeding position by using a towel or pillow positioned beside the infant as a support. Such makeshift devices are usually ineffective because it is difficult to maintain the bottle in a feeding position due to movement by the infant.
Furthermore, it has recently become very popular for parents to secure their infants into reclining seats during the day while the parents perform daily chores. The use of such seats is advantageous to both parent and child because it allows a child to be with a parent while the parent is conducting necessary activities. While in such a seat, it is even more difficult to use a makeshift support for a nursing bottle.
Also, it is well known that infants must be burped periodically during a feeding to expel air swallowed while nursing. If excess amounts of liquid are consumed in one feeding interval without burping, the infant can suffer gastric distress. This especially becomes a problem when a bottle is supported for nursing. Without the continuous interaction as provided by hand holding of the bottle, it is difficult to meter how much liquid will be received by the infant in a given feeding interval.
Another problem which exists with respect to feeding an infant with a supported bottle is that any milk or formula which leaks from the bottle is free to soil surrounding bedding or the infant. Although traditional bibs, which fasten around an infant's neck, provide some protection, such bibs are ineffective when a nursing bottle is propped to the side of the infant's head.
Others have devised various types of devices for holding a nursing bottle in a feeding position adjacent an infant's mouth. Although these devices have achieved some measure of success, they are all subject to disadvantages not found in the present invention and have not adequately addressed the problems presented in the art.
For example, Daust U.S. Pat. No. 2,631,288 discloses a bottle holding device comprising a wedge-shaped supporting cushion structure with an overlying bottle holding band or cover that holds and positions a bottle. The device also includes a bib which is detachable from the supporting cushion. The bib attaches around a child's neck by use of straps which are tied around the child's neck. The bib and bottle holding device disclosed by Daust suffers from the following disadvantages. First, the cushion does not provide for a variable feeding rate. Second, the bib requires tying around a child's neck which is cumbersome. Because the bottle holding device is attached to the bib, the device becomes unsafe by being tied around a child's neck. Finally, the bib is attached by expensive snaps which are incorporated into the bib, thus making the bib non-disposable. The bib, once soiled, must be laundered.
Williams et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,950 discloses a nursing bottle holder having an arcuate base which is supported on the chest of an infant, a bracket extending upward from the base and a bottle gripping clamp pivotally connected to an upper portion of the bracket.
Although the bottle holder disclosed by Williams et al. provides for a variable angle of the bottle, it does not provide for an easily reproducible feeding rate. Furthermore, the bottle holder disclosed by Williams et al., although having an arcuately shaped base, must be supported on an infant by the hand of the attending parent.
Adler U.S Patent No. 4,405,106 discloses a bottle holder including a base for resting upon the chest of an infant, a bottle holding member which is hingeably joined to the base, and a prop hinged to the bottle holding member. The prop engages a plurality of engagement means for step-wise variation of the angle of a bottle. The bottle holder disclosed by Adler is subject to several disadvantages. First, the base of the bottle holder is flat. Thus, the bottle holder must be held to an infant by hand or a strap must be used to stabilize the bottle holder on the child. The flat shape engaging the infant's chest, may cause considerable discomfort to an infant. More discomfort and inconvenience is presented by use of a strap to secure the base. Second, although the bottle holder disclosed by Adler does allow for a variable and reproducible bottle angle to adjust feeding rate, the adjustment is somewhat cumbersome. For example, in order to change angles the prop must be first disengaged from one engagement means. Then the bottle holder must be lifted or dropped while at the same time the prop is directed into engagement with an alternate engagement means. Also the adjustment is step-wise, not continuous. A continuously adjustable rate is advantageous, for example, to more accurately reflect the continuous increase of the infant's feeding capacity as the infant develops.
None of the bottle holding or propping devices described above, provide means for allowing the device to be supported on a flat surface such as a table in a position wherein a bottle held by the device is in an upright position.
Applicant's invention is provided to solve these and other problems.